Sargasso of Souls – Session 20

Santino spent the remainder of the 6th working on a language tutorial that could be left at the complex on a small handheld computer. He thought that the entity might be able to interface with the device and learn from it. However on the 7th, when he put his theory into practice, there was no evidence that this was the case. Instead he persevered with his chalk drawings. Progress was slow but steady.

Disappointingly, on the 8th, although security teams escorted the professor into the complex every four hours or so, no contact with the entity was made. The only activity was the ‘periodic scan’ that continually swept the corridors.

Having detected nothing untoward during their previous visit, Santino could not explain the entity’s absence. Perhaps it was simply occupied with something more important to it.

Hoping for better results the following day, a team composed of Santino, Vaughan, Johansson and Voronova went in again on the morning of the 9th.

Back at base, a couple of hours after they had left, Maya and I were interrupted by a beeper. It was Maya’s. She looked concerned as she quickly scanned the message and then began grabbing her clothes.

“Medical emergency” she said anxiously. “It’s Veldin”

I pulled on my own gear and followed her out.

We met the other medic, Mickie Hendrie, in the corridor. She was heading towards the main airlock. Apparently Phipps had been found lying unconscious in the external lab and was being brought in for medical attention. We hoped it wasn’t anything serious.

However, when we arrived, we found the two members of the Certified Bioware team, Heather McKay and Peter Colt, manhandling a limp space-suited figure through decontamination. It looked like Veldin was in a bad way but it wasn’t clear what was wrong with him. All that was known was that he had collapsed in the quarantined lab area where the Ancient artefacts were stored.

I was suddenly concerned that this could be another possession.

Damn! Why Veldin? Normally it would be him I relied on in such circumstances.

I called Locke on the intercom, discretely making sure that only Maya and Mickie could overhear what I was saying.

“We need a sentry to report to the infirmary on the double” I said. “Phipps has collapsed and we should take every precaution until we know what we are dealing with. And send Bauman over here, I need him to go outside with me and check the external lab.”

My thinking at this point was that some alien life form could have got into the lab and caused Veldin’s condition; perhaps a small predator that we had not yet encountered. Bauman was the nearest thing we had to an expert on such matters.

I left Maya and Mickie to take care of Veldin and started to suit up. After a few minutes Bauman joined me.

We completed a thorough search of the lab but found nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever had happened to Veldin remained a mystery. Perhaps it had been one of the Ancient artefacts that he had been studying but there was nothing to suggest which one he had been working with. We recovered his PDA hoping it might hold some useful information but it was password protected so we couldn’t access any of the data on it. Frustratingly we were no wiser when we finished than when we had started.

We returned to base and I went to the infirmary to see how Phipps was doing. Disturbingly his condition appeared to be deteriorating. Inside the isolation chamber his skin was grey and clammy. Maya told me his temperature had now reached one hundred and six.

“There seems to be some outside agent present,” she reported. “We don’t know what it is or where it came from, but I think it might be trying to restructure his DNA.”

She looked at me doubtfully and chewed her lower lip.

“We should bring the Certified Bioware team in on this” she stated. “He could die and they’re the only ones who might be able to figure out what’s happening to him.”

Involving Certified Bioware could raise information security issues but at this point Veldin’s life was our main concern. Maya knew what she was talking about, if she said we needed them, we did. I would deal with any repercussions later.

“Do what you have to” I said.

Maya nodded.

I stayed for a few minutes longer, watching Maya and Mickie at work and hoping that Veldin would be OK. One life had already been lost to the rigours of this planet, more if you included the murdered nurse and the crew and passengers of the crippled freighter. Veldin might be a pain in the arse some times but I had grown to like him. I hated to admit it but I would miss him if something happened to him.

I was of no use in the infirmary, so I left them to it. Maya had enough to worry about. She didn’t need any distractions. I went and busied myself with other things, but it was difficult to concentrate. Phipps’s fate concerned me.

However, it was not long before evidence came to light that Veldin was the victim of his own reckless stupidity. While searching his quarters for clues to the password on his PDA, Bauman and Jankwoska discovered a discarded syringe. The residue within it turned out to be a retrovirus containing Ancient DNA. Further testing confirmed that this matched the unknown agent that was present in Veldin’s bloodstream. Since Phipps was the only person on planet who was capable of synthesising such a retrovirus and traces of his DNA were also on the syringe, it now seemed all too likely that he had been conducting some secret experiment using himself as a guinea-pig. I was not impressed. What the hell had he been thinking!?

As the retrovirus ran its course Maya and Mickie worked tirelessly. All that the rest of us could do was wait anxiously to see if Phipps would make it. The Certified Bioware team proved invaluable in isolating the agent and analysing its makeup but there was little that could be done with the information they provided. Phipps’s irresponsible stunt had placed his future largely out of our hands. It was a one-way ticket. We couldn’t turn back what he had done.

Whenever I could I went down to the infirmary to see if there had been any improvement but the outcome remained uncertain. Disturbingly, as Phipps’s transformation continued, his eyes began to darken until they were impenetrable orbs of blackness. The scans Maya showed me revealed the full extent of the changes. His optical faculties were no longer entirely human.

Later, Santino and his team returned. I told them what had happened to Phipps and they briefed me on developments at the complex. Another significant change in activity had occurred there.

Santino looked tired. He played the recording from his suit camera as he explained their experiences.

At first there had been nothing but then, coinciding with Vaughan’s report of an increase in power readings, the three-dimensional cross section of the complex had emerged from the floor once again.

This time the team’s positions within the lab were marked and there was a ring of seven lumps around Santino. An eighth lump, presumably the periodic scan, still circled the complex.

As Santino watched, the ring of seven moved away from him and over to nearby consoles. Suddenly Vaughan’s power readings increased dramatically.

“I don’t know what’s happening but I‘m getting some really unusual activity” he commented.

Then the floor tiles rippled and a full size Ancient rose up before Santino. Though it was obviously a facsimile the figure was quite detailed and easily recognisable as an individual adult. It gestured in a way that suggested a greeting. Santino reciprocated.

Apparently satisfied, the Ancient began communicating a message. At first Bell’s face appeared. Then, a moment later, it was replaced by a three-dimensional model of the Esperi solar system, which rose up out of the floor and hovered in the air before Santino. Interestingly the model displayed the jump-gates but none of the space stations. Perhaps the entity’s information was somewhat out of date. A pulse of light emanated from the fourth planet and there was an indication of movement, as though something had left the surface, although it had no clear direction.

The Ancient then turned to Santino and appeared to be waiting for a response.

The professor considered for a moment and then drew a small blob, a stick figure and a large blob. When he had finished he indicated the large blob and pointed to the jump gate.

“It is my belief that the Ancient had just asked me where the possessing entity had gone” Santino clarified. “I felt it important to distinguish between the possessor and the host when replying”

I nodded, turning back to the video. The image of the Esperi system had disappeared and, where it had been, a network of linked orbs was now visible. A point of light moved between them.

“I would surmise that this is a comprehensive map of the jump gate network” Santino observed just before the representation was replaced with another three-dimensional solar system. This one was immediately recognisable as the Sol system.

I watched intently as the point of light that we had been tracking left the Sol gate and made its way to Mars. When it arrived the system faded and a single city appeared. Within it were many small lumps moving around, seemingly representing the population going about their daily business. Among them was one larger lump. It moved through the city and as it did so the smaller lumps were consumed.

As the population dwindled the city shrank away from us and the whole surface of Mars was displayed. Upon it were a total of seventeen large lumps.

At that point Santino stopped the playback.

“So there you have it,” he said. “It would seem to be a warning. Though what exactly we are to make of it I cannot say. It is unclear whether the later events are from their past or a prediction of our future. As yet they have made no attempt to elaborate upon what you have seen, though there has been a marked increase in the sophistication of their attempts to communicate. I believe that a number of adults are now involved in the process and can only conclude that they are endeavouring to reach a point where they can convey something more complicated.”

“Any clue as to what that might be professor?” I asked as I considered the implications of what we had seen. My problems seemed to be mounting.

“I would assume that it is more about the possessing entity” Santino replied a little wearily. “Though that is merely supposition”

It did seem to be the logical conclusion.

“How are you holding up?” I asked him, noting the slightly haggard look he was developing. “Is there anything you need?”

The professor considered for a moment and then shook his head.

“A bottle of Casa Madero Cabernet Sauvignon 2082 wouldn’t go amiss” he joked, “but no really, I have all the tools that I need at present.”

I nodded. I was conscious that he had not answered my first question but I did not press him.

“I believe that Mr Vaughan has something of interest to report” Santino added, “but if there is nothing further for me, I should like to excuse myself so I can review my notes of today’s exchange. I have a lot of work to do this evening.”

“Of course” I acknowledged.

After Santino had departed Vaughan apprised me of a major breakthrough he had made. As a consequence of spending an extended time in the lab with the entities he had successfully recalibrated his equipment to detect them. When they were present they appeared as complex, shifting patterns of energy.

He proposed conducting a sweep of our own base to see what we picked up and I agreed. For the time being however I instructed him to do so covertly. I did not want the entities to know that we had a means of locating them. I felt it prudent to conceal this potential ace up our sleeve.

Vaughan also theorised that he might be able to develop a way to repel the energy but for the moment it seemed too great a risk. Any experimentation of that sort might have proved counterproductive.

Afterwards I debriefed Katalina and Nadya but they had little to add from a security perspective.

When Vaughan’s scan was complete he reported that, as we had suspected, a number of entities were present within our base. They moved around apparently at random, seeming more curious than anything else. However they did linger, more often than not, in the rooms where the temperature had inexplicably remained a couple of degrees higher.

That evening I saw Maya only briefly, she crashed on my bunk for a couple of hours before stirring and going back to the infirmary. Though she was exhausted I didn’t try to talk her into staying. It wouldn’t have done any good anyway; she was determined. Perhaps it was merely professional pride or maybe she felt she owed Veldin for curing her when she was infected but, whatever it was, she had taken it upon herself to ensure he survived this. The fact that her patient’s condition was self-inflicted apparently had little bearing on her perspective.

My emotions on the other hand were conflicted. I felt a mixture of concern and anger towards Veldin. I didn’t want to lose him but this was all the outcome of his own stupidity. How could he have been so reckless? I did my best to sleep but rest did not come easy. After much soul-searching I couldn’t escape the fact that, whether he deserved his lot or not, I wanted Phipps to live.

The next morning I was relieved to learn that during the night his condition had stabilised, though it was still not clear when or if he would regain consciousness. The immediate danger was over.

A few hours later the Salvation emerged from the clouds above and landed in the canyon. Aboard, courtesy of Razor, were a full compliment of personnel including nine security, an eight-man Certified Bioware team, seven scientists from the Chandra science station, a four-man geological survey team and two construction engineers.

We had not been expecting the sudden influx so a fair amount of pandemonium resulted. Locke and I spent the next few hours organising accommodation for everyone and sorting out various other minor requests. I found it hard not to be irritated. Less from the inconvenience and more from the fact that, though I had agreed to fulfil Razor’s wishes as best I could, it hadn’t taken him long to dismiss my reservations and decide that the way forward was to escalate our exploration efforts in order to more rapidly determine the planet’s viability as a sanctuary for refugees. My mood was not improved when Ramsay arrived to inform me that he had instructions to take me back to Bharat station with him on the return trip.

I simmered down a little when it was explained that the reason for the recall was that the Cochrane Industries representative that Razor had already mentioned was arriving on Bharat station tomorrow and had stipulated that a meeting of all board members was to be convened.

“I don’t have time for this,” I grumbled. “And I can tell you now that Phipps won’t be attending”

“Do what you want” Ramsay responded. “I’m just here to deliver the message”

I didn’t feel that I could get out of this one however. Particularly given that I would be explaining Veldin’s absence. F**k me! I could do without all this bullsh*t!

A short while later, when things had calmed down a little, I was briefing Locke and Ray Preston, our second most senior NCO, on what was expected during my absence when we were interrupted by another medical emergency. Maya apologised for disturbing us but said she had thought it best to inform me that Mickie Hendrie was responding to a request for aid from the co-pilot aboard the Salvation. Apparently Ramsay had collapsed while running some system diagnostics.

Disturbed by this inexplicable turn of events, I immediately called a halt to the meeting and went to investigate.

When I arrived in the med-lab aboard the Salvation, Ramsay was just regaining consciousness.

“Don’t sit up for a moment,” Mickie instructed him, resting a restraining hand upon his shoulder as she finished her initial examination. “How are you feeling?”

“Other than a monumental gruptak I think I’m pretty much OK” Ramsay said.

Mickie looked at me as if to say ‘Did he just say what I think he said?’

“What’s the matter?” asked Ramsay uncertainly. “Is something wrong with me?”

“You just said that you had a monumental gruptak?” I told him.

“I meant headache,” he said, looking pained.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him physically” Mickie observed.

“Maybe my chip has malfunctioned” Ramsay offered hesitantly.

I made sure Ramsay remained under observation and recalled Vaughan from the Ancient complex to take a look at him. A couple of hours later, after he and Ramsay had completed a full diagnostic and re-installation of Ramsay’s implant, it was determined that the resident data had been corrupted, possibly by a power surge of some kind.

However, even after re-installation, Ramsay continued to get his words scrambled every so often. Gradually Vaughan developed a theory that a large quantity of information had been downloaded into Ramsay’s brain. The scrambling of the chip was merely a by-product caused by the data overflowing.

Eventually, after consulting with Santino, the two began to suspect that Ramsay had been mysteriously endowed with the ability to speak Ancient. It did not appear that the procedure had been entirely successful however.

Despite this fact, Santino was keen to take Ramsay into the complex to see if his abilities proved useful, and surprisingly Ramsay was willing to give it a try. There was still time while the charge from the Salvation was being dissipated, so another exploration team was assembled.

Being a little suspicious of Ramsay’s uncharacteristic willingness to leave the Salvation I made certain that the security team watched him closely, however as it turned out nothing untoward happened during the mission. An exchange did take place with some of the entities but frustratingly the gaps in Ramsay’s programming caused much confusion and little of any use could be interpreted. The only recognisable information to be gained was that the Ancients referred to the possessing entity as a ‘demon’.